Sunday, July 19, 2015

July 2015Greetings family and
friends!We just returned from some much
needed time to relax in Uganda.The DRC
and Uganda are neighboring countries but are different in many ways.The roads in eastern DRC are for the most
part rugged and the most common vehicle one meets on the road is a motorcycle
or an overloaded truck.We passed
several overturned, overloaded semi trucks.In DRC woman carry mostly everything on their heads, however in Uganda
weight is often carried on the back.Attire is different too.Clothing
is very colorful and patterned in Congo, whereas in Uganda the colors and
styles are more neutral and western.Congolese eat lots of foo-foo (ground cassava) and dried fish whereas
Ugandans eat lots of chapatis and bananas.

Vacation in Uganda

Murchison Falls National Park
is a national park situated right on the Nile River with lots of wildlife to

behold.Going on safari with a baby is
interesting to say the least.Emmanuel
wanted to hold the steering wheel and stand up to see out of the windows the
whole time.He was not able to see the
elephants and giraffe in the distance like we were, but spotted an antelope up
close.I think he thought it was a big
goat.We slept in a safari tent, enjoyed
great food while watching the monkeys play in the trees and hippos surface on
the water.Emmanuel enjoyed swimming for
the first time (in a pool, not the Nile).He liked getting his face wet and drinking the water, as well as
floating on his back.It will be fun
teaching him how to swim.For me just
being outside and seeing wildlife was so relaxing.Uganda is a great place to go on safari.

Next onto Kampala for some
supplies shopping and good food.We were
able to meet up with a couple of Warren’s old friends and have fellowship
together.In some ways all big cities
are alike, lots of people, traffic, and noise.It was so convenient to walk into a store and buy many things all in one
place.What might take a day of
searching around multiple shops here in DRC, we were able to do in just a
couple of hours.I was encouraged by our
visit to Ambrosoli International Church.I told Warren that hearing the message on Sunday morning was the most
important reason we were in Kampala.The
pastor started out by asking when the last time was that we had had a serious
discussion or thought about heaven.Our
lives on earth account for such a small percentage of God’s plans for us, so
how is it that we never talk or think about eternity?This is a very poignant question.He went to challenge us to keep our
perspective on eternity and not get lost in our daily trials.He posed the question, if you catch a fish
and take a photo to show it off will people appreciate its’ magnitude?Probably not.But if you take a picture of the same fish relative to your body, will
people then appreciate its’ size?Definitely. Just as it is
difficult to appreciate the size of a fish alone, our lives in isolation don’t
make a lot of sense.We may find
ourselves discouraged by daily frustrations and fail to see the larger
picture.If however we see our lives
relative to eternity as God has made us to live with him, our lives make a lot
more sense.He does not want us to lose
heart by our daily experiences and troubles, but to be renewed on the inside in
our relationship and knowledge of Jesus Christ.It is this relationship with Christ that we need to cling to in this
life.Our lives do matter for eternity
so we must fix our eyes as Corinthians says on “not what is seen, but on what
is unseen.”We must not lose heart and
lose this perspective.

2 Corinthians 4:6; 16-18

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Christ…Therefore we do not lose heart.Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet
inwardly we are being renewed day by day.For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal
glory that far outweighs them all.So we
fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal.

An Interesting Anecdote

Today the local radio station
announcer came to our house to talk to Warren.He and Warren are good friends and help each other out from
time-to-time.Warren advertised a reward
for anyone who could help him capture a swarm of bees.For days we had people stopping in with a bee
sighting.Next we announced our escaped
goat and sure enough we were able to recover him.So tonight our friend came by to see if
Warren could help him find “hidden treasure”.He had been told that a certain rocky hillside contained treasure and
wondered if Warren had any “machines” that might help him.I had to smile because my husband does know a
lot about a variety of things AND has plenty of “machines.”Therefore he was a reasonable consult for
such an endeavor.Life is always
interesting here.

active, and trouble!Our house has undergone a progressive childproofing.Warren removed the handles on the lower
cupboards in the kitchen.The bird cage
as been elevated.Electrical cords are
concealed.Our kerosene refrigerator has
tape blocking the flame adjusting knob.He opens every door and cupboard just because he can.He loves to play outside with his puppy and
goat.My handy husband welded him a
swing out of rebar today.He is making
so many sounds and waving “hi” and “bye.”He loves people and often extends his hands to everyone.As you can imagine everyone loves

this.I can’t make a trip to the local market
without multiple people asking me about Emmanuel or being called “Mama
Emmanuel.”In this culture you are who
you are because of your relationships to others.Warren and I hope that we will be able to
handle him once he starts walking!

Thanks again for your interest in our lives. Pray that we would be encouraged in our daily work and have more opportunities to share the hope we have in Christ.Blessings,Lindsey, Warren and Emmanuel